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US-based companies led the way in completing merger-and-acquisition (M&A) deals with emerging and high-growth market companies in the second half of 2011, but deal activity dropped by 20 per cent compared with the first half of 2011, according to KPMG International’s latest Emerging Markets International Acquisition Tracker (EMIAT) study.
The semi-annual KPMG study, which tracks completed deals in which an acquirer took at least a 5 per cent shareholding interest, revealed that in the second half of 2011, US-based companies completed 126 emerging and high-growth market acquisitions, down from 158 in the first half of 2011. Companies in the other European
Doug Henderson has joined Oak Hill Advisors as Partner. Based in London, Henderson will lead the firm’s European performing credit business and enhance its established distressed capabilities.
Henderson has more than 25 years of experience and extensive relationships in the leveraged finance market, including the last 12 years in London. He joins OHA from Goldman, Sachs & Co, where he most recently served as Chairman of the European Credit Finance Group in the Investment Banking Division, with oversight of the firm’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) loan, high yield, restructuring, structured finance and real estate finance businesses. In addition,
Total sovereign wealth fund (SWF) assets under management stand at USD4.62tn, an increase from USD3.98tn in 2011, Preqin data reveals.
Data analysed for the forthcoming 2012 Preqin Sovereign Wealth Fund Review also show that more than half of all sovereign wealth funds, 57%, invest in private equity. However, the overall proportion of such institutions investing in private equity has fallen slightly in the last year, as several newly established sovereign wealth funds have yet to make their maiden allocations to the asset class.
Some 46% of sovereign wealth funds invest in private equity through fund commitments, and a further 11%
Willem Sels (pictured), UK Head of Investment Strategy at HSBC Private Bank on how recent data still points to a soft landing scenario in China…
In recent months, concerns have increased that China will experience a hard landing and that tightening measures by policymakers since October 2010 have been too aggressive, especially given the global slowdown we have witnessed in recent quarters. Our view has remained that a soft landing was achievable and that the slowdown in Chinese growth was both engineered and needed. Indeed, given the current size of the Chinese economy, 10% growth is no longer needed and
Vision Capital has acquired Vitopel from funds advised by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and JP Morgan Partners.
Vitopel is the market leader in BOPP (bi-axially oriented polypropylene) film production in Latin America, generating over USD300 million of revenue in 2011. Its materials are widely used for products such as snack foods, fresh produce and confectionery products. Vision Capital intends to use Vitopel as a platform for consolidation in the BOPP industry and to capitalise on the high growth potential within the Latin American BOPP film packaging market, driven by increasing commercial and consumer demand.
As part of the transaction, Vision
Fleming Family & Partners Private Equity, the private equity business of Fleming Family & Partners, has appointed two new Investment Directors.
Llewellyn John joins FF&P Private Equity from Nova Capital Management where he was Associate Partner having joined the firm in 2006. John was part of the Nova Capital team which worked with FF&P Private Equity on the very successful joint investment into EIS Optics, which the firm exited in October 2011 returning 3.5x investment to shareholders.
Whilst at Nova Capital he worked on a number of transactions including the GBP75m acquisition of Scientific Equipment from Barloworld, the
Friendgiftr, an e-commerce firm providing virtual pre-paid cards through the social web, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Aurora Borealis Investments. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
"This is huge," says Rob Carpenter, Founder and CEO of Friendgiftr. "Since our launch, we have been working to create innovative virtual solutions for the pre-paid economy, and this acquisition is validation of that. It’s definitely exciting."
Friendgiftr is the first company to have commercialised social media with multiple major merchant brands by providing e-commerce storefronts, mobile storefronts and unique partnerships with digital content providers, among others.
The Government of Gibraltar has published the Financial Services (Experienced Investor Fund) Regulations, 2012, which various improvements to the original 2005 Regulations, including the opportunity for large funds to use reputable and substantial administrators based in jurisdictions of equivalent standing to Gibraltar.
The new Regulations will also allow funds to redomicile to Gibraltar yet continue to use their existing reputable administrator, representing a significant advantage for funds moving to the EU with, inter alia, the advent of the Alternative Investment Funds Managers Directive, due to be implemented by July 2013.
The new Regulations enable Experienced Investor Funds to
Alarm Capital Alliance (ACA) has partnered with Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), a global investment firm with USD3.7 billion in capital under management.
ACA provides capital return and valuable operational resources to alarm companies via its dealer and portfolio acquisition programs as well as residential security services and home automation technologies to households across the United States.
The security alarm industry is expected to grow into a USD43 billion dollar market by 2015. NVP was drawn to ACA because of this significant market opportunity, an exceptionally strong leadership team and the company’s unique, multi-channel approach, including offerings to a traditionally underserved
In Q1 2012, UK M&A activity saw 229 deals totalling GBP16bn, a 33% decrease compared to Q1 2011 (GBP23.9bn) but up 9.6% compared to Q4 2011 (GBP14.6bn), according to MergerMarket. The UK made up 9.6% of all European M&A by value this quarter, the lowest Q1 since Q1 2004 (8.4%).
Only six large-cap deals (GBP500m+) were announced this quarter. The largest transaction of the quarter was the GBP3.2bn acquisition of the UK based broadcast software provider NDS Group by Cisco Systems, from News Corp and Permira.
With GBP4.8bn-worth of deals totalling 22 transactions, Technology was the most active sector in
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